Lentil Burger Eating Surfers

If the number of ships lurking off the Newcastle harbour is one sign of our times (previous post refers) then what I experienced at this little slapstick eatery in Newcastle is another. Newcastle, and specifically Nobby’s Head is famous for it surfers. Last week I stopped for lunch here. It is a block from the beach. While reading the papers and then eating our meal (on our own, it was quiet for a moment but soon livened up) a handful of bare chested, blond headed young men walked in. Sand between their toes and on the tops of their feet, laced in bracelets around their wrists and salted across their shoulders. Hair still damp. And without a moment of hesitation, while gazing up at the menu board above the counter, ordered lentil burgers. Thirty years ago I surfed, very badly, at Bells Beach. Let me assure you that at that time no surfer then would be heard ordering a lentil burger, let alone be caught eating one. Another sign of our times.